On September 28, 2023 – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a new Report and Order to allow very low power (VLP) devices to operate in the 6 GHz Wi-Fi band.
What the Report and Order Would Do:
· Permits very low power unlicensed devices to operate in the U-NII-5 (5.925-6.425 GHz) and U-NII-7 (6.525-6.875 GHz) portions of the 6 GHz band.
· The very low power devices will be permitted to operate anywhere, indoors and outdoors, without being under the control of a frequency coordination system.
· The very low power devices will operate at power levels that permit them to coexist with incumbent operations in the band: 14 dBm EIRP and a power spectral density of -5 dBm/MHz EIRP.
· The VLP devices would be required to employ transmit power control, would not be permitted to operate as part of a fixed outdoor infrastructure, and would be required to prioritize operations above 6105 MHz prior to operating between 5925 MHz and 6105 MHz.
What the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Would Do:
· Proposes to permit very low power devices to also operate in the U-NII-6 (6.425-6.525 GHz) and U-NII-8 (6.875- 7.125 GHz) portions of the 6 GHz band.
· Proposes to permit very low power devices to operate across the 6 GHz band at higher power levels while under the control of a geofencing system. The geofencing system would utilize commission databases to establish exclusion zones to protect incumbent licensed services.
· Seeks comment on permitting clients to 6 GHz unlicensed low-power indoor access points to directly communicate with each other. Currently the 6 GHz unlicensed rules prohibit direct communication between client devices.
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